


Music Is To Be Shared

by KatcadeCascade (DreamWings231)



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Musical Instruments, Pre-Epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 08:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14076612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamWings231/pseuds/KatcadeCascade
Summary: They didn't exactly say it out loud.Miguel heard it though."Want me to teach you?"





	Music Is To Be Shared

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a sequel to While Searching.

They didn’t exactly say it out loud.

Miguel heard it though.

It happened on the first quiet day since the family’s rise of fame for outing the truth of Héctor Rivera and Ernesto De La Cruz. Right before lunch, Miguel enters Abel’s room and held out the, hah, instrument of De La Cruz’ demise to Abel. Miguel had a smug look on his face that instinctively urged Able to give the younger cousin a noogie. While Miguel being smug isn’t a harmful thing, it’s super suspicious nonetheless.

“Want me to teach you?”

Abel looked from the shiny guitar to his smiling cousin. Sure music is pretty much embraced now in the Rivera household but… well there’s no real excuse he could think of to explain his nervousness. Maybe it’s from the conditioned mind-state of Abuelita’s ban on music. All the while thinking this, his mouth was making the intelligent sound of a really long “Uh.”

“Oh come on!” Miguel sat next to him on Abel’s bed. “You can’t tell me you’re not curious.”

“Alright Miguel, you’re right!” Abel went to grab the guitar out of Miguel’s offering hands but stopped. “Um are you sure though? This one’s, like, your heirloom.”

Miguel shook his head and urged the guitar into his arms, “Music is to be shared with family. I’m not going to be selfish about his guitar.”

The mature look on Miguel’s face is something to get used to. Ever since Día de Muertos his cousin has been very passionate about Papa Héctor and Abel can’t really blame him. Miguel figured out this four generation old murder mystery about their ancestor and is fiercely protective and loving of his family.

“You’re so serious it makes you look like _abuelo_ ,” Abel nudged an elbow in Miguel’s arm. “Don’t grow too old on me, Miguel.”

“Hah, I won’t,” Miguel said and his smugness returned, “Actually Abel, I think you’re growing some white hairs already.” He reaches up to mess with Abel’s head, both laughing as Abel swats the hands away.

At Abel’s request and no surprise here, Miguel taught him the beginning chords to _Remember Me_. It’s becoming a new tradition for the Rivera’s to sing the song to Mama Coco each night and it makes her and Abuelita Elena so, so happy.

He’s practicing the chord shifts slowly as Miguel hums the song, bobbing his head and even tapping his fingers a lot. It takes a moment for him to realize that Miguel’s humming a new melody.

“Are you trying to write a song?”

His hands are still tapping to an unheard, unscripted song. “Yeah, I want to write a new song. It’s been on my mind for a while now.”

“Well,” Abel strums out the second verse, “I bet it’s gonna be awesome.”

“Thanks cousin.” Miguel had Abel adjust his fingers for another chord, “And now do a down, down, down-up up down strumming pattern.”

It takes a few tries to get it right and Abel’s fingers start to ache but the music is worth it. He can see why Miguel really loves this.

 

 

 

The next person Miguel approached with Papa Héctor’s guitar was Rosa. She’s actually excited to learn how to play and it’s like a weight has been lifted off the whole family now that everyone has accepted music.

They’re in the courtyard sitting on the boarded up watering hole before they start their shift in the shoe workshop. Even though he got Abuelita to love music, she still has the family in tip top shape for their cobbler life.

Honestly Rosa was a bit surprised when Miguel agreed to a work schedule to be a shoe maker and a musician. One day he’s yelling from the rooftop about being a musician and the next day he’s more humble about his talent.

So far Rosa’s just sliding her hand up and down the strings before testing herself on playing _Remember Me_.

“Not bad but loosen the tension in your wrist,” Miguel said.

Rosa rolls her wrist and tries again. She also plucked the strings to do the ascending scales. “So Mister Rivera, how’s the song writing?”

“Abel helped me figure out a melody but I got no lyrics so far.”

She encouraged Miguel to sing it and he does but with the incoherent and meaningless words of “La” and “Da”.

The song starts off slow-ish and then builds up to a grand ballad type of thing. He even taught her the notes he’s planning on using.

“For lyrics I think you’re going for something vulnerable and maybe a little insecure. But the rising volume is like gaining confidence,” Rosa said. “What are you gonna write about?”

“All I got are ideas for family songs.”

“Good, I cannot imagine the day when you write a love song.” She coughs and speaks in a silly, low octave, “Hey ladies I play guitar and will win your hearts.”

Miguel snickered and then sang in an extra deep voice about a girl named Juanita. Rosa strummed a random major chord to match the slow song in response to every line Miguel sang. But before he could even reach the fourth verse, Miguel’s father ran out of the house pointed at his son.

“Don’t you dare finish that line, _mi hijo_!”

The cousins exchanged confusing glances.

“Her knuckles, they drag on the floor?” Miguel said utterly confused.

Tío Enrique blinked, “What?”

Miguel repeated his words in song with Rosa finishing it off with a loud, dramatic six string strum.

The adult appeared gob smacked and bashfully rubbed his face, “Oh ah, sorry _mi hijo_ , I thought um, I was wrong about that.” And then he rushed back inside the house with “I hear your mother calling me, bye!”

Rosa and Miguel both shrugged it off and returned to her music lesson.

 

 

 

Miguel is practically beaming with excitement and nervous energy.

Being open with his love for music is so amazing and to truly be himself in front of his family is all he ever wanted. He wants to spread his music to everyone he is able to meet and most of all he wants to make his entire family proud. And he knows they are proud, they kind of say after every performance especially Abuelita and his parents.

But today is not about him as he leads his two cousins to the more musical side of town.

He’s been teaching them how to play the guitar and they both did enjoy it. Rosa is quick at doing plucking while Abel prefers strumming. That’s pretty much the gist of what Miguel is able to tell because hey, he’s self-taught. If there’s some specific guitar terminology then he’ll learn about it eventually but not at this moment because…

“Ta da!” Miguel flings his arms outstretch as they stand before an instrument shop.

“Is this where you’re always lollygagging?” Rosa asks, reusing the word his papa scolds him with.

“No!” Miguel is quick to answer on reflex but back tracks, “Uh, yeah it is, at least one of the places.”

Abel tuts at him, arms crossed and shaking his head disapprovingly, “Miguel how far must you go to besmirch Abuelita’s good name?”

“Will you guys stop using words we don’t use and get in here already?” Miguel holds open the door for them and the bell dings for their arrival.

The shop, Bom _bard_ ed, is one big room filled from wall to wall full of instruments of any kind. Naturally Miguel leads them towards the string instruments and perhaps he himself is a little too distracted by all the guitars and how cool they look. Finally, he can walk inside this place confidently.

“Wait, are we here to buy our own?” Rosa asked in awe.

“Yep, it’s on me!”

“Miguel, that’s way too much,” Abel says, looking around the room, a bit overwhelmed.

The shopkeeper pipes in, “Don’t sweat it, _muchacho_.” She’s in her later years where the grey hair is taking over the roots and she lazily folds her arms over the register counter. “For you Rivera’s, there’s a special discount for your first instruments.”

Miguel already planned this out, getting his parents’ permission to use the money from their newfound tourist revenue along with working extra hours in the shoe station. Thankfully the shopkeeper agreed to a discount and willing to reserve whatever instruments his cousins pick until they bring the money. With that settled, Miguel gets Rosa and Abel to wander around without worry.

The three of them lean towards a weird instrument Miguel has never seen. It’s on display behind the shopkeeper’s counter table and already she’s shaking her head to dissuade them. The medium sized thing is wooden, has a bunch of strings with tuning pegs to match, mini piano keys, and a crank.

“You told me they could pick out any instrument,” Miguel whined.

“Not this one. Come back when I have a full stock of them, otherwise this beauty’s on display only,” the lady narrowed her eyes at the children, “Got it?”

With a face and tone like that, they complied. They wandered around the shop, most of them testing out the guitars but Rosa and Abel quickly moved on from it, wanting to try out different instruments. More or less they goofed off by attempting to play every single thing but the shopkeeper refused them to blow on the brass instruments.

Rosa was standing in front of wall of the string section and points at them. “What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle?”

“One’s bigger than the others,” Miguel said very unsurely.

“One of them beat the diablo,” Abel added from across the room.

“Don’t say mention any evil under my roof!”

“Sorry _señora_!”

Rosa takes the violin - or is this one the fiddle? - in her hands and plucks at it carefully. She then places it under her chin and has the shopkeeper guide her into playing a few notes.

Meanwhile the boys are on the other side of the room looking at the small accordions. Miguel’s already playing one but all he’s doing is squeezing it back and worth, adding a little kick to his legs as he hops around. Abel joins him but with a larger, heavier accordion but he’s more swaying than hopping and he’s playing the keys up and down its scale.

Miguel finally stops jumping up and down and sees his two cousins concentrate intently on their respective instruments. “So, you two found your thing or what?”

Rosa smiles and plays a few notes almost flawlessly as she fumbles with the bow.

Abel on the other hand stares at the accordion, “I think I saw a bird play this.”

“Cool,” Miguel says instantly, not questioning his cousin at all because hey, he’s seen stranger things.

He knows that this is a step in the right direction for his family and he can’t wait for Héctor to come visit next year. In the meantime, Miguel’s going to needs some assistant on his original songs, starting with _Proud Corazón_.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, this is kinda short and vague but I wanted to focus on their relationship overall. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
